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Rohin Garg

Rohin Garg

ITRules

The Times Are A-Changing: Ensuring IT Act amendments are progressive

Given recent media reports and parlimentary responses, we wrote to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology asking them to publicly detail any potential amendments to the Information Technology Act, 2000 and engage in extensive consultations over the changes.
16 February, 2021
3 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg
accesstointernet

The PM-WANI Scheme: An Explainer

The PM-WANI scheme aims to increase internet connectivity across the country by implementing a decentralised system of public access points. We created an explainer in which we discuss how, while a step towards the right direction, the scheme faces both foundational and implementational challenges.
10 February, 2021
6 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg

Government censorship and the dire need for transparency

Recent events regarding the blocking of pro farmer protests Twitter accounts reek of government censorship. Furthermore, the process by which MEITY initiated the blocks is excessively opaque. We wrote to the Ministry asking them to make the orders publicly available so as to increase transparency.
08 February, 2021
3 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg
Censorship

#LetUsChill: Confusion and Opacity over OTT guidelines

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting may be considering regulating online content on Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms. We wrote a letter to the Ministry, in which we detailed potential harms, asked for clarity, and requested a thorough implementation of the pre-legislative consultation policy.
04 February, 2021
3 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg
accesstointernet

Mixed signals: Observations on the 2021-22 Budget

Budget 2021-22 is a mixed bag. Though it contains praiseworthy allocations towards programs such as Digital India and the USOF and provides a stimulus to R&D, allocations towards the PMGDISHA remain low, while concerns remain that signficant capital expenditure may not take place.
02 February, 2021
7 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg
accesstointernet

Is internet access not a basic necessity? Should our privacy not be safeguarded in health and education?

While the emphasis laid on improving access and equity is commendable, there are certain concerns that the Economic Survey must address. These include questions raised about the commercialisation of healthcare and the viability of remote learning, as well as the overarching data paradigm.
30 January, 2021
5 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg
STI policy

STI policy needs more innovation!

Along with Civic Data Lab, we have submitted our comments on the Draft 5th National Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy. In our comments, we highlighted several issues: the need to expand STI capacity by increasing R&D spending, improving inclusion and access, and promoting open science.
27 January, 2021
4 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg

Protect Trans Rights Now! Portal Leakages Must Be Addressed.

Last year, we had received a complaint that the National Portal for Transgender Persons contained several vulnerabilities that could be exploited to access the sensitive personal data contained within. While some of these issues were addressed, certain concerns about the portal's security remain.
25 January, 2021
4 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg

An Explainer on the Unique Health Identifier rules, 2021

Given that the proposed health IDs are to be used in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, we thought we would create an explainer on the the Unique Health Identifier Rules, 2021. This explainer is our initial attempt at an analysis, through which we hope to start a public discussion on the issue.
19 January, 2021
7 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg

Unconstitutional draft report on non-personal data ignores concerns about privacy and data monopolies

IFF submitted its comments on the second version of the Draft Report by the Committee of Experts on Non-Personal Data Governance Framework and raised four main concerns that we felt needed to be addressed.
18 January, 2021
5 min read
Rohin GargRohin Garg

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